Warriors: Legends of TroyReview

Share.

The best Dynasty Warriors that's not a Dynasty Warriors.

By Ryan Clements

In Warriors: Legends of Troy, you control a group of legendary heroes that fought in the Trojan War originally described in Homer's epic, The Iliad. Controlling Greek warriors like Achilles and Trojan heroes like Hector, you cut your way through hundreds of poor, under-powered soldiers and -- occasionally -- face off against opposing heroes.

Does this sound like the Dynasty Warriors series to you? It should, because it's from the Tecmo Koei camp, the same folks that develop Dynasty Warriors. But unlike the Dynasty Warriors games, which are developed by Japanese studio Omega Force, Warriors: Legends of Troy is from Koei Canada. And out of the many Warriors games that I've played, it's probably the best. This isn't to say that Legends of Troy is an awesome game, because it's not. But if I have to mow down a bunch of dudes with nothing but the power of the Square button, I'd do it with Legends of Troy.

For those of you familiar with the Trojan War mythology, the story in Legends of Troy will click. Greek armies are invading Troy because of a few nasty romantic mix-ups, but the war drags on for a long time. As in, a decade. You take control of the heroes in this bloody conflict, and that conflict's been divided into several chapters. These chapters alternate perspectives, as you'll be fighting for the Greeks one minute and then the Trojans the next.

Exit Theatre Mode

After playing so many Dynasty Warriors games, it was refreshing to inhabit a different setting. The story in Legends of Troy is entertaining and has more direction than anything I've seen out of Tecmo Koei's other similar ventures. I was shocked at the pre-level narration, which is written well and accompanied by some beautiful art. Within seconds of starting up Warriors: Legends of Troy, I felt more involved with its world. But this was before the fighting began, and gameplay matters the most.

During battle, you're given different objectives depending on the chapter. Most of these objectives, of course, involve killing hundreds of people. To do this, each hero has a quick attack, a focused attack, and a stun attack, as well as an evasive roll and a shield. If you study the moves list, you'll notice that most combos are pretty easy to execute. Put simply: you press Square until everyone is dead.

At this point, I feared the worst. Would I be mashing one button for hours on end with no sense of purpose? Not quite. As it turns out, Warriors: Legends of Troy has two important features that separate it from many of the Dynasty Warriors games before it. First, you're rewarded for not mashing one button during battle. If you time each individual button press correctly, the corresponding strike is more powerful. Furthermore, every attack builds up a Kleos (money) counter. Executing finishing moves adds bonuses to this counter.

These might seem like trivial systems, but they're tremendously important. In Warriors: Legends of Troy, timing and skill are rewarded and improve your performance, and the Kleos counter gives you a palpable sense of accomplishment as you play. At the main menu, you can spend those Kleos to purchase items that improve your hero's performance. These items take up space on a grid and must be managed like old-school role-playing games (RPG).

Maybe I'm spoiled by RPGs, but I love monitoring my progress. There's something satisfying about seeing your money rise as you stab some nameless soldier through the neck. And then investing that money in items gives me even more of an incentive to keep playing.

These systems alone were enough to entertain me, but there are several other things to enjoy. Your hero can pick up any dropped enemy weapon and throw it, which usually means "instant kill" for any soldier not carrying a shield. This led to maximum guffaws when I tossed a spear across the battlefield and impaled an escaping soldier. I realize this makes me sound crazy, but it's funny because it's not real!

Ouch! See more Warriors: Legends of Troy screenshots like this one.

Warriors: Legends of Troy also has a counter attack system so you can land a free hit if you time your block just right. This is an absolute necessity in Legends of Troy's boss fight "duels" which often go down at the end of a level. This is yet another component of battle that requires some skill.

But like its many predecessors, Warriors: Legends of Troy has some serious issues. Although the visuals here are better than past Dynasty Warriors games I've played, the environments don't look as beautiful as they could and character animations are awkward. There are also performance issues when the action gets heavy.

More troubling is the lock-on system, which doesn't use camera orientation but rather your character's direction. For example, if you're running out of the way of danger but you want to lock on to an enemy you're dodging, you can't. You have to turn around first to acquire a lock. When multiple enemies are on the screen, using the right analog stick to adjust your target is unreliable and sometimes doesn't work at all.

There are other minor annoyances, like stage recycling and some hilariously awkward quick-time events. But these don't frustrate me nearly as much as the lock-on camera.

The Verdict

One of my Warriors: Legends of Troy play sessions involved a comfortable couch and several bottles of beer. For those legally capable of drinking, this seems to be the ideal play environment. Legends of Troy is entertaining, especially for the "hack-n-slash" genre, and has a handful of gameplay mechanics that reward skill and persistence.

There are issues here that prevent Legends of Troy from being a good game, like a clunky lock-on system and frequent slow down. But with a few friends and the right attitude, Warriors: Legends of Troy can be fun.